


Impulse

by Kaiyou



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cannon compliant, M/M, Summer, Training Camp, possible other relationships if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 05:33:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7964446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiyou/pseuds/Kaiyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer is too hot, but Kenma doesn't mind spending the afternoon lazing outside with Shouyou.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Impulse

**Author's Note:**

> So, my inner Kenma had an urge, and I am catering to it. Short and drabbly.

Summer was too hot.

Kenma licked his lips, tasting the watermelon they’d eaten earlier. Sunlight was filtering down through the leaves of the tree above them. He could hear the voices of the other boys down the hill and away from them, some splashing in the pool. Kuroo was probably down there fighting with Bokuto. They’d been tussling over one of those pool noodles earlier, pushing Karasuno’s captain into the thankless job of judging which one of them was doing better at whatever game they were playing. 

“You’re smiling,” said the boy next to him.

Kenma glanced over, humming in agreement.

Shouyou was lying back next to him on the grass with Kenma’s PSP in hand. He was focused on the game again, tongue stuck out between his lips. “I’ll get it this time, I will,” he muttered, fingers mashing at the buttons. 

Rolling onto his side Kenma lifted his head and looked at the screen. He liked Shouyou, but Shouyou sucked at games. For a moment Kenma felt the itch to take the game from him and show him the proper pattern of attack. Then he exhaled and the moment passed. That wouldn’t be fun for Shouyou.

Wouldn’t really be fun for Kenma, either. He could play the game all he wanted, once he was away. Probably would, later, when they were back with the others and Shouyou and Inuoka started talking about spiking while using their own unique vocabulary. Maybe Lev would come join in. The only way Kenma could really handle all of them together was to play his game and pretend like he wasn’t paying full attention. Shouyou knew better, of course.

Then again, Shouyou was smarter than he seemed, even if he did suck at video games.

Kenma looked over at him again. Shouyou was making little tsking noises through his teeth as he played the game. Laying back again, Kenma wondered if the noises reminded him of the insects in the trees. He gave a small huff of laughter at the thought of a cricket-Shouyou.

“What are you laughing about?” Shouyou asked, glancing over.

“Nothing,” Kenma murmured, turning to look at him again. 

He was thankful for moments like this. All of their friends close but not too close, their noise bubbling up so that Kenma knew they were all having fun. He didn’t need to worry, or wonder what was going on. He didn’t need to participate. It was enough just being present.

Shouyou didn’t expect anything from him either. Even with the questions, if Kenma didn’t want to give a straight answer, he didn’t have to. Shouyou was far too busy with his own line of thought to get offended by something Kenma failed to do. All he had to do was be himself, and that was enough. 

Kenma could feel himself smiling again.

He raised a hand to his mouth and felt his lips, felt the curve of them beneath his fingertips. Was this the look he got when he played a new game?

No.

That look, he thought, was for when he was watching Shouyou on the court. He was always coming up with moves that broke Kenma’s expectations. It made the game more interesting. He was conscious of the difference his friendship with Shouyou had brought to the way he experienced volleyball. Nekomata had mentioned something about it. Sometimes he suspected the old man was going to try and push him to be captain next year.

Oddly enough, Kenma wasn’t sure he disliked the idea, if only because it meant he’d be able to change that stupid team chant. 

He chuckled at himself.

Shouyou glanced over again, lifting an eyebrow.

“Volleyball,” Kenma admitted.

“Secret?” Shouyou asked, eyes sparkling.

Kenma considered that for a moment. It wasn’t really secret, not in the way of a new move or some strategy he intended to suggest they employ. But he didn’t really feel like talking about it either.

He didn’t feel like talking.

Shouyou was focused back on his game anyway, squawking in outrage over some enemy. His face was incredibly expressive. So unlike Kenma’s own face. A light breeze came through and ruffled Shouyou’s bright orange hair. It was natural. So amazing, really. The sunlight glinted off the highlights in it. Sometimes Kenma thought he could see sparks of green and even purple in the depths, like minuscule jewels refracting a spectrum of color.

Suddenly Kenma wondered what it felt like.

It was shorter than Kuroo’s hair. Kuroo’s hair was deceptively soft, rough enough to stand up on its own but not sticky with product like Bokuto’s. Akaashi’s hair was shorter than Shouyou’s, but it was surprisingly coarse, curling tightly around Kenma’s fingertips when he ran his hands through it. His own hair was limp and brittle. Kuroo made him condition it for hours sometimes, but it didn’t really help.

Not that Kenma cared. It was just hair.

He was curious about Shouyou’s hair, though. There was a small blade of grass stuck in one of the tufts on the side, and he impulsively raised a hand, slowing when Shouyou turned to look at him. 

The redhead didn’t pull back though, so Kenma finished the move he’d started, fingers sliding through the curls so that he could pick out the blade of grass. There was a hint of color on Shouyou’s cheeks, and Kenma could feel heat on his own, though he wasn’t quite sure why.

“Grass,” he mumbled, showing it to Shouyou.

“Oh,” Shouyou said, eyes widening a moment before he smiled. “Ah, I don’t mind. I mean, it doesn’t bother me. Ah, if you, yeah.”

They shared a look, and then Kenma let the blade of grass flutter from his fingertips before he reached out to touch those curls again. He held them carefully, running his thumb over the lock of hair in his hand. Soft. And silky smooth. The strands of hair were so fine.

“Sometimes the kids in elementary school would pull my hair,” Shouyou murmured, not moving his head. “I got teased about it, you know? One time a teacher even accused me of dying it. I thought about hating it because it made me different. But it’s who I am, you know?”

“I like it,” Kenma said, closing his mouth in surprise after the words escaped.

The smile Shouyou gave him in return was pure sunshine. “Thanks!” he said, moving his head just enough that the strands slipped from Kenma’s grasp.

It was good.

“Kenma!” yelled a familiar voice. 

Raising up Kenma spotted Kuroo down the hill looking up at them. There was unreadable look on his face. 

“I think it’s time to go in,” Kenma said, pushing himself up.

“Oh, yeah? Man, and I never did get to the boss. You have to let me borrow it again later, ok?”

“Mmhmm,” Kenma replied, dusting off the grass and dirt before he started down to Kuroo. “Just be careful with it.”

“Of course!” Shouyou said, handing him the PSP and then running on ahead to catch up with the other Karasuno team members. 

“Have fun with the shortie?” Kuroo asked, eyeing Kenma critically as he drew near.

Kenma nodded, making a face as Kuroo turned him around and started to fidget with his hair. “What?” he asked. 

“It’s all messy,” Kuroo replied, finally patting him on the back. “There.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Kenma grumbled, turning the game back on and opening his own save file. “Just hair.”

“Yeah, yeah, come on. We’ve got a practice match against Fukurodani in a few moments, and I told Bokuto we’d beat him this time.”

“Ah, and I was having such a nice afternoon,” Kenma said.

“You’ll have fun, come on,” Kuroo said, “and don’t you want to catch Akaashi off guard?”

That was an enticing prospect, he had to admit. It still seemed like a lot of effort though. If he’d had his way, he would’ve lazed around with Shouyou all afternoon.

“We’ll be playing against Karasuno later too,” Kuroo said. “Make sure you pay attention, ok?”

Kenma shot him an odd look. “Why wouldn’t I pay attention?”

The look Kuroo shot him was hard to decipher. “I just don’t want you getting distracted.”

Making a face, Kenma said, “Kuro, you’re weird.”

“Ah! I am not!”

“Are too.”

“Am not!”

“Are too,” Kenma countered. He could keep this up for hours, because it was the truth. Most of the time he understood Kuroo perfectly, but then he’d come out with strange statements like this that Kenma couldn’t understand at all.

Ah well. He’d find out eventually.

But for now, it was time to play the game.

**Author's Note:**

> oh yeah im on tumblr at <http://kaiyouchan.tumblr.com/> and i love followers. And asks. And anything at all. (I also reblog HQ art).


End file.
